After starting the first six games of the season for Florida, junior second baseman Cade Kurland came off the bench on Sunday and did not disappoint. He blasted two two-run homers over the left-field wall in three at-bats. The second of which ended the game in walk-off fashion as the Gators mercy-ruled Dayton for the third day in a row.
“I’m just expecting the ball to be in my zone and don’t miss it,” Kurland said. “It’s swinging at pitches in my zone versus falling for the pitcher’s trap. Seeing the ball up and swinging at pitches I can get my A-swing off on.”
The Florida Gators completed the series sweep of the Dayton Flyers (2-5) on Sunday afternoon, 12-2, at Condron Ballpark and improved to 7-0 on the season.
Florida’s three straight mercy-rule victories this weekend marks the first time since 2005 that the Gators have won all three games of a series by 10 runs or more. UF also swept the first two series of the year after having just one sweep in 2024.
The bats were a big part of Florida’s victory on Sunday. The team racked up 12 hits, as five players had at least two.
UF redshirt junior left-hander Pierce Coppola was masterful on the mound early as he tossed three perfect innings to begin the day. He was tagged for one in the fourth after a leadoff triple from sophomore center fielder Michael DiMartini. He scored on a sacrifice fly. Dayton added one more on a leadoff bomb from redshirt sophomore catcher Bobby Stang in the fifth.
“I thought Pierce was really good again,” Florida head coach Kevin O’Sullivan said. “I thought he was really sharp, really efficient early on.”
Coppola’s night was done after five innings of work. He allowed two earned runs on three hits, one walk while striking out eight. Through two starts, Coppola has 20 punchouts and just two walks.
Sophomore right-hander Luke McNeillie came in to relieve Coppola. He tossed two hitless innings out of the bullpen, allowing just one walk with three strikeouts. O’Sullivan turned to freshman righty Aidan King to finish off the ballgame as he gave up two hits in one scoreless inning with one punchout.
Gators pitchers struck out 12 on Sunday and fanned 34 in the series.
Florida was held scoreless through the first three innings against starting right-hander J.J. Gotti but found the scoreboard in the fourth. The Gators plated four in the inning on three hits, two walks and three wild pitches from reliever Ben Dean. It was capped by an opposite-field RBI single from junior shortstop Colby Shelton. He finished the day 2-for-4 at the dish.
After adding one run in the fifth and sixth innings, UF put four more on the board in the seventh, two of which came on Kurland’s first long ball of the game and of the season. In the ensuing inning, Kurland hit another to almost the exact same spot in the left-field berm to finish off the victory.
“His approach was good,” O’Sullivan said. “Any time you hit a couple home runs, and he got them both. He had a great day.”
The Gators will look to move to 8-0 on the year on Tuesday as they head to DeLand to take on the Stetson Hatters. Florida split the season series with Stetson in 2024 but lead the all-time series 86-36. First pitch at Conrad Park is scheduled for 6:30 p.m. EST.
Contact Hugh Green at hgreen@alligator.org. Follow him on X @HGreen_15.
Hugh is the Spring 2025 baseball beat reporter for The Alligator. He is a fourth-year journalism sports and media major. In his free time, Hugh enjoys watching all kinds of sports with his friends.
